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It’s New Year’s Day, and everyone appears to be busy wishing everyone else all good things for the upcoming twelve months. In that spirit, may those of you reading this post take my good wishes with you, as you face the challenges and enjoy the blessings of 2012. Another thing that many people do on […]

I haven’t forgotten that the focus of my blog at the moment is supposed to be an examination of a writer’s life during the process of taking a manuscript from draft to publication. There’s not much to report, however, from this last week. I have had no feedback from my editor regarding my revisions to […]

Writing fiction is an adventure. It’s also an education. Before I began writing, I knew an active imagination would be needed along with a certain amount of creativity. What I hadn’t counted on was the amount of research I would have to do. This was probably shortsighted on my part, but I’m sure many readers […]

The revised draft of Oranges and Lemons made the journey from my computer to that of my editor last Sunday evening. (“Thanks goodness,” some of you are saying.) This happened a couple of days later than I had hoped, but ‘the day job’ got in the way. I could have spent another week or two […]

There’s something about the passage of time that gives us perspective, not only on life, but should you happen to be a wordsmith, on your writing as well. Coming back to a manuscript after a break of several months is a unique experience, and one I approach with apprehension. Once committed to the process of […]

I’m about half way through revising Oranges and Lemons, which according to the flexible timeline I was given by my editor, puts me right on target. (I know you can’t see it, but relief is painted all over my face.) When trying to decide what to write about in my blog today the only thing […]

When I was a little girl, TV was in its infancy. On the Canadian prairies, where I grew up, it was barely taking its first breath. I was lucky to have a teenaged brother who was instrumental in persuading my family to make the big purchase. If my young memory is correct, we were the […]

At the time of my last post, I’d written just over 10,000 words on book #3. I was happy with how things were going, because I could envision “the book,” even though I had no outline. As promising as the work appeared, #3 has now been shelved for at least a month. Such a halt […]

Aspiring writers are often advised to develop discipline; they must actually put words on the page on a regular basis. This advice is expressed in various ways: “Show up at the desk.” “Write every day.” “Put your bum on the chair.” On the surface, this is sound advice, since writing for most people is not […]

I knew when I stopped teaching full time that I would probably be trying to keep several balls in the air regarding my work endeavors. I’d hoped to be doing some substitute teaching, maybe a few days a month. That rather snowballed, and now it’s usually several days a week. I’d hoped to be acting […]